We know this is a couple days behind us now, but let me put it this way: I'm still recovering. Having never hit up Austin before, I recommend anyone who enjoys live music, cheap beer, and great weather drop what they're doing and start driving. I don't care if you're babysitting your two month old niece or caring for an elderly woman – get in your car stat. We listed Austin in our Top Campuses to Rock, but didn't know full well until this past weekend what the city was capable of.

We hit the spots, Emo's, Stubbs, my personal favorite The Blind Pig. But the real reason we were in town was of course for the seventh annual Austin City Limits Music Festival. A lot of friends of mine thought it was all about country, but they really couldn't be farther from the truth. Here's a rundown of our weekend at the fest:


The Steps
We started the day off at the Dell Stage to see the band that won the online contest. Austin natives, The Steps, had a great presence and had us wondering why they weren't on the bill from the beginning. Picked on Dell's site out of something like 300 bands, there were over 300,000 ballots cast and they took the cake. Pick up their self-titled album. It's good.


What Made Milwaukee Famous
From one Austin band to another, the notion of middle Texas being anything other than a bastion for indie rock was driven home over the weekend. While their single "Sultan" is great, the rest of the album kind of fell short for us. That was until I saw the live show. I have a new found respect for the boys of WMMF and gotta say their 2008 album What Doesn't Kill Us is back in my playlist rotation.


Louis XIV
Loved these guys at Lollapalooza, but I think the heat was getting to them as the thermometer approached the 90s early afternoon. While I loved Austin, that dry heat at the end of September was not something I was used to. We didn't stay long.


Del the Funkyhomosapien
While most bands let the crowd gathered between sets in silence, Del had a local MC hyping up the crowd half an hour before he was set to come out and rock. Del's DJ was out too, spinning and cutting as the local guy dropped some short freestyles. He was tight. Del was tight as well. I didn't know any of his original stuff, being a fan mostly from work with The Gorrillaz, but I was impressed. He wasn't a "Lupe" or a "Roots" when it came to festival hip-hop, but I think it was a good fit.

Gogol Bordello
All of us here at Boosh have been fans of Gogol for a while now. Ever since I got drunk in Seattle and saw them perform at the 2007 Bumbershoot festival, then again when we almost got strangled in the photo pit of the Chicago show. Like they always do, Gogol brought a live experience unparalleled where lyrics/music don't matter as much as the excitement they drum up. But after three shows, I have to say they just can't bring it during the daylight like they can at night.

N.E.R.D.
Pharell and crew were off to a rough start, the mics not working very well which seemed to be a plague on the AMD stage all weekend. But the problem was corrected in time for "Rock Superstar" and they brought the crowd down. Not halfway thru the set, they suddenly had filled the stage with dancing white girls who shook it, took it, and brought it on back. Was really all I was hoping for.

Dinner
Two words: Chicken Cone. I'm not sure what it was, some sort of gift bestowed upon us from a power much higher than I can ever grasp with my feeble human brain. It came in a large SnoCone paper cone. A piece of spicy breaded chicken, a breaded avocado, coleslaw, and chiptole mustard – all of which wrapped in a tortilla. Seriously. Blew my mind. Apparently we missed a great set by The Swell Season, but fuck it. My taste buds experienced nirvana.


The Blackstone Winery Tent
Blackstone Winery has made an appearance at several festivals this summer offering concert-goers something else besides beer and Sweet Leaf Tea (which by the way, is amazing). At Austin City Limits they had this huge circus tent with a wine bar, tables, and big screen TVs. The screens had been playing feeds from different stages all day, but with the first debates starting up, they switched gears and played the Obama-McCain debate. Mars Volta exploded in the background, yet the tent was crammed full of people who just wanted to see their favored candidate on a plasma. Texas might be a red state, but Austin is a big blue dot.


The Mars Volta
We watched the debate for a while, but it was actually "too crowded". When Obama started tackling the economic position of the States, I thought I was thrown into the mosh pit during "Bulls on Parade". We walked over and met up with some friends who were sitting towards the back swaying to the electro-rock of the 'Volt on a Miley Cyrus blanket.


Aftershow
Unlike other festivals, the party is just beginning after the last band leaves the stage. After parties cloud every venue downtown with acts who performed during the day. One of our favorite up-and-comers, The Cool Kids, rocked the stage at Martyr's Friday night. We instead rocked Beef Brisket Tacos and microbrews as the Shady Grove down the street from festival grounds. There was a live band out in the courtyard and we rocked along with a bunch of other ACL kids. Called the night early so we could survive Saturday.

SATURDAY RECAP ::  SUNDAY RECAP